Did You Know? Weight is not actually a great predictor of health.
It is well known that dieting for weight loss is both ineffective and potentially dangerous. Yet, the diet industry is alive and well, globally worth hundreds of billions of dollars. We are definitely hung up on the notion of shrinking our bodies. Part of the reason for that is cultural standards of beauty (which are often unrealistic), but also that weight is generally accepted to be a good predictor of a person’s health risk and health status. We assume thin people are at a lower risk for health issues, and larger people are at a higher risk – even if we don’t know much (or anything) about their life and lifestyle behaviours.
Despite what you likely hear from many medical professionals, social media posts, fitness magazines, and wellness blogs, weight and body size are not actually great predictors of an individual’s health status.
Here is a brief synopsis of some of the issues with using body weight as a way to decide whether or not someone is healthy (especially when weight is the only factor considered):
Weight and poor health outcomes are associated with each other (or correlated with each other, in research terms). Two things being associated or correlated does not necessarily mean one of those things causes the other. For example, there could be a third factor, common to both poor health outcomes and being of a higher weight, which is the true cause of both. To illustrate this idea, think of the fact that male-pattern baldness is highly correlated with heart disease (ie. many men who are bald also have heart disease). We don’t assume that being bald causes heart disease in this case. In fact, a third factor – high testosterone levels – causes an increased risk of both baldness and heart disease.
(Credit for this great example comes from the fascinating book Anti-Diet: Reclaim Your Time, Money, Well-Being, and Happiness Through Intuitive Eating, by fellow registered dietitian Christy Harrison. It’s worth a read if you’d like to learn more about the science behind why weight loss diets don’t work, and the harm they may cause).
Weight cycling (constantly losing and regaining weight) is known to be harmful to health – but this factor often isn’t controlled for in studies on the “dangers of obesity”. This has led some researchers to wonder if at least some of the health risk associated with being in a larger body could be due to weight cycling.
People in larger bodies often face stigmatization (both from the general public, and from healthcare providers), and the psychological distress that comes with that stigmatization undoubtedly has an effect on health status. Plus, individuals who face stigmatization based on their body size may avoid healthcare services, or even receive suboptimal care due to treatment plans being based solely around weight loss. Research on the health impacts of body size does not control for these effects. That is to say, it’s possible that stigmatization and/or the effects of weight cycling could be the true cause of poor health outcomes associated with being in a larger body. And other factors may also be at play! We need more research that considers these factors to be able to draw more accurate conclusions.
The medical community classifies individuals as “underweight”, “normal weight”, “overweight”, or “obese” based on a value called BMI (or Body Mass Index), which is simply a measure of weight relative to height. This measure was never designed to be used to evaluate individual health status. It’s a deeply flawed measurement tool for the purpose in which it is being used.
It is so ingrained in our culture that “being overweight is unhealthy” that it can be incredibly difficult to imagine a world in which that is not true. We hear this message everywhere, including from many health professionals. The simple fact is that we don’t actually know for sure the impact of weight on health. It’s possible weight causes poor health outcomes, but it’s also possible that weight has little bearing on health, and that other factors that go along with being in a larger body are truly the issue when it comes to health. It’s also extremely important for us all to be aware of the undeniable health effects that come with weight cycling AND the stigmatization and stress that comes with being in a larger body in a society that, unfortunately, doesn’t treat people in larger bodies very kindly.
In addition, there’s no scientifically proven way to lose weight and keep it off in the long term, at least not for the vast majority of people who attempt weight loss. In fact, the number one predictor of future weight gain is dieting. Dieting also significantly increases the risk of developing disordered eating as well as serious eating disorders.
The bottom line: the pursuit of weight loss can be a risky business, and focusing on weight is unlikely to be the best approach to truly achieving wellness.
Instead, you might want to focus on :
Developing a healthier relationship with food
Learning to respect the body you have right now
Finding ways to move and be physically active that you enjoy and can participate in regularly
Improving your sleep quality
Finding helpful strategies to manage the stress of life
Fostering supportive social relationships that truly nourish and enrich your life
All of the above are easier said than done, but if this approach speaks to you, I would be happy to chat more about how I can help!
Contact me for a free discovery call for more information and to find out if this approach is right for you.